In Open Letter, Hundreds of Artists Urge Mayor Mamdani for Two-Year Ban on AI in Classrooms
An open letter published by the AI Moratorium Coalition and signed by about 500 New York City–based artists and cultural workers urges Mayor Zohran Mamdani to impose a two-year ban on artificial intelligence in public schools. Signatories include Nan Goldin, Laurie Simmons, Carroll Dunham, art critic Jerry Saltz, and writer-artist Molly Crabapple, and the letter argues that AI is “built on theft” of creatives’ work and may harm students’ critical thinking and creativity. A City Council oversight hearing scheduled for today will examine AI-related data privacy and security concerns, following an August 2025 campaign for a moratorium that the movement says now has majority support in the Council. Council members wrote to the mayor on June 9 asking to “immediately pause” generative AI in schools until guardrails are developed, and a petition has gathered more than 4,000 signatures from NYC parents and educators. The letter cites a Brookings Institution report concluding that, at present, the risks of generative AI in children’s education outweigh its benefits, while noting that tools such as Magic School, Khanmigo, and Google Gemini are being adopted in schools.
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